Someone once said of the 18th-century evangelist George Whitefield, “Mr. Whitefield was so cheerful he tempted me to become a Christian.” Blessed temptation! May everyone who names the Name of Christ become such a sweet enticement to those who do not know Him. Yet note what it was that made Whitefield whet the appetite of […]
He calls it his “thorn in the flesh.” “He” being the Apostle Paul; “it” being a problem that was a rock in his shoe he couldn’t shake out. He leaves his thorn as nameless as Arlington’s unknown soldier. He simply calls it a “weakness.” But he insists that, for a while at least, it blistered […]
I had to. The only thing I can compare it to is holding your firstborn for the first time. It’s not as significant as that. But it is almost as moving. What comes close to cradling your own flesh and blood? Standing in a bookstore and seeing your literary firstborn on a shelf. That happened […]
“He is really well off.” Who comes to mind when you hear that? Bill Gates, the man who’s Fort Knox rich? Tom Cruise, the charismatic star who’s still as bankable as anyone in Hollywood and as recognizable as anyone in the world? Or maybe Paul Finebaum’s pal Laura Rutledge, the woman who’s making waves in […]
Roger Kahn is one of America’s greatest sportswriters. Some might say the greatest. Robert Frost was one of American’s greatest poets. Some might say the greatest. Since poetry is more important than sports, Frost was literary royalty. So it was special when the poet invited the sportswriter to visit him. After the visit, as Kahn […]
Life’s a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A mixture of good and bad. Of treats and terrors; happiness and horror; pleasure and pain. We call the bad “evil.” Sometimes it’s particularly bad. Think, for example, of victims of terrorism, pedophilia, or a drunk driver. When particularly bad evil happens a question rises, demanding an answer […]
When evil goes public as it did in Las Vegas last week—brazenly, tragically, and fatally—many Christians feel they need to do for God something God doesn’t feel the need to do for Himself. They become His Perry Mason’s. They make Him their client and seek to defend Him in the court of human opinion. That court’s […]
It happens to just about every Christian. For some reason, prayer flies standby in most of our lives. Something happens and it gets bumped from the day’s flight. So, family stresses or business demands or spiritual laziness make you skip prayer one day. And before you know it you’re on a slippery slope. And five […]
How do you stay optimistic about God in a painful situation that isn’t going to change? For example: arthritis that laughs at Aleve; singleness making you bluer than George Jones’s He Stopped Loving Her Today; a job so boring it makes watching someone else’s home movies seem like skydiving; a Pharaoh oppressive boss. You get the point. […]
Pessimism is to our spirit what kryptonite is to Superman. It weakens us as that green rock weakened the Man of Steel. Optimism about God—that grace-sired assurance that God is with us and for us—is to our spirit what momentum is to a football team, wind is to sails, and a tough-to-please dad’s “great job” […]
